MasterCard Worldwide (NYSE: MA) is a multinational corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters in Harrison, New York, United States. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the banks of purchasers that use its "MasterCard" brand debit and credit cards to make purchases. MasterCard Worldwide has been a publicly traded company since 2006. Prior to its initial public offering, MasterCard Worldwide was a membership organization owned by the 25,000+ financial institutions that issue its card.

MasterCard, originally known as MasterCharge, was created by several California banks as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued byBank of America, which later became the Visa credit card issued by Visa Inc.. The original banks behind MasterCharge were United California Bank (later First Interstate Bank and subsequently merged into Wells Fargo Bank), Wells Fargo, Crocker National Bank (also subsequently merged into Wells Fargo), and the Bank of California (subsequently merged into the Union Bank of California).

MasterCard Worldwide

Type	Public (NYSE: MA)
Founded	1966
Headquarters	MasterCard International Global Headquarters,Purchase, New York, New York, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Richard N. Haythornthwaite (Chairman) Ajay Banga (CEO, President & Director)
Industry	Financial services
Products	Payment systems
Revenue	▲ US$4.99 billion (2008)
Operating income	▼ US$ -534.50 million (2008)
Net income	▲ US$ 1.5 billion (2009)
Total assets	▲ US$6.47 billion (2008)
Total equity	▼ US$1.92 billion (2008)
Employees	5,000 (2008)
Website	MasterCard.com

In 1966 the aforementioned group of California banks formed the Interbank Card Association (ICA). With the help of New York's Marine Midland Bank, now HSBC Bank USA, these banks joined with the ICA to create "Master Charge: The Interbank Card". The card was given a significant boost in 1969, when National City Bankjoined, merging its proprietary Everything Card with Master Charge.

In 1979, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" was renamed simply "MasterCard". In the early 1990s MasterCard bought the BritishAccess card and the Access name was dropped. In 2002, MasterCard International merged with Europay International SA, another large credit-card issuer association, which for many years issued cards under the name Eurocard.

In 2006, MasterCard International underwent another name change to MasterCard Worldwide. This was done in order to suggest a more global scale of operations. In addition, the company introduced a new corporate logo adding a third circle to the two that had been used in the past (the familiar card logo, resembling a Venn diagram, remains unchanged). A new corporate tagline was introduced at the same time: "The Heart of Commerce".

1970s Master Charge card

In 1966 the aforementioned group of California banks formed the Interbank Card Association (ICA). With the help of New York's Marine Midland Bank, now HSBC Bank USA, these banks joined with the ICA to create "Master Charge: The Interbank Card". The card was given a significant boost in 1969, when National City Bankjoined, merging its proprietary Everything Card with Master Charge.

In 1979, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" was renamed simply "MasterCard". In the early 1990s MasterCard bought the BritishAccess card and the Access name was dropped. In 2002, MasterCard International merged with Europay International SA, another large credit-card issuer association, which for many years issued cards under the name Eurocard.

In 2006, MasterCard International underwent another name change to MasterCard Worldwide. This was done in order to suggest a more global scale of operations. In addition, the company introduced a new corporate logo adding a third circle to the two that had been used in the past (the familiar card logo, resembling a Venn diagram, remains unchanged). A new corporate tagline was introduced at the same time: "The Heart of Commerce".

Features

Many issuing institutions include various features with credit card accounts, such as extended warranties on items bought with the card, damage waiver on cars rented with the card, and accident insurance during travel bought with the card.

Shareholders

Based on an SEC filing (DEF 14A) on April 24, 2008, MasterCard's largest current shareholders are:

(Class A Stock)

1. 15.6% - The Mastercard Foundation
2. 13.6% - Marsico Capital Management, LLC
3. 8.9% - Atticus Capital, LP
4. 5.1% - FMR Corp.

 (Class M Stock)

1. 9.5% - Citigroup, Inc.
2. 8.5% - JP Morgan Chase & Co.
3. 5.1% - HSBC Holdings, LLC
4. 5.1% - Bank of America Corp.

See Yahoo! Finance for updated data.

IPO

The company, which had been organized as a cooperative of banks, had an initial public offering on May 25, 2006 at $39.00 USD. The stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol MA.

Litigation

Both MasterCard and Visa have paid approximately $3 billion in damages resulting from a class-action lawsuit filed by Hagens Berman in January 1996. The litigation cites several retailgiants as plaintiffs, including Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck & Company, and Safeway.

Advertising

The original Master Charge logo displayed in store windows from 1967-1979.

First MasterCard logo used from 1979-90

MasterCard logo used on cards 1990 to present.

Sports sponsorships

MasterCard currently sponsors the New Zealand All Blacks, the country's rugby union team. MasterCard also sponsors the UEFA Champions League. For many years, it also sponsored FIFA World Cup but withdrew its contract after a court settlement and its rival Visa took up the contract in 2007. It is currently the sponsor of the Memorial CupTournament of the Canadian Hockey League. MasterCard has just announced new sponsorship deal with Australian Cricket team and is also the founding sponsor of IPL cricket teamMumbai Indians. It was the official credit card of UEFA Euro 2008. Mastercard is also the official sponsor of the Uefa Champions League.

In 1997, MasterCard was the main sponsor of the aborted MasterCard Lola Formula One team.

On October 12, 2007 MasterCard offered $160,000 to the municipal government of Toronto so that the city could keep its ice rinks open, as the city was facing a budget shortfall.

Management and Board of Directors

Key executives include:

As of December 2004, the following banks are represented on MasterCard's board of directors: